1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to food containers and more particularly to a container combination providing improved convenience, storage capacity and controlled temperature.
2. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Stone et al., U.S. Pat. No. Des. 250,880 describes a compartmented food package design.
St. Pierre et al., U.S. Pat. No. Des. 417,146 describes a multi-container package design.
Morton, U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,999 describes a multi-container package for articles, such as orange juice in a frozen state, which includes a lid panel separated by divider zones or perforated zones into equi-spaced lid portions and a container means suspended beneath each lid portion and including sealing means to hold the lid portions to the container means.
Akazawa et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,314 describes an easily openable sealed container consisting of a lid and a main body having a flange, wherein a sealing layer of the main body or a sealing layer of the lid has a number of microdents in the flange portion, the thickness of said sealing layer is 10-1000 .mu., said sealing layer and an adjacent layer contacting therewith have a lamination strength of 300-2,000 g/25 mm width, and said sealing layer and the lid or the main body are sealed in the flange portion at a strength larger than said lamination strength, as well as a process for producing said sealed container.
Whiteford, U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,931 describes a sealed egg package including a cup-shaped receptacle formed of transparent thermoplastic material which encloses and resiliently supports an egg therein. The receptacle is closed by a cover sheet adhesively sealed to the rim of the receptacle. The closed receptacle insulates the egg from the air and inhibits evaporation of water and escape of carbon dioxide from the egg. A gaseous atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, sealed within the receptacle and surrounding the egg protects the egg against deterioration.
Falla, U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,465 describes an environmentally friendly polymer film pouch made from a polyethylene film structure for the packaging of flowable materials, for example milk, including, for example, a pouch made from a monolayer or multilayer film structure such as a two-layer or a three-layer coextruded film containing at least one layer of a blend of a linear ethylene interpolymer and a high pressure low density polyethylene as a seal layer. Also disclosed is a process for making a pouch for packaging flowable materials using a film structure of a blend of a linear ethylene interpolymer and a high pressure low density polyethylene.
The prior art teaches the use of containers for food products, but does not teach a container and tray combination capable of keeping the container cold or hot. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.
The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the objectives described below.
A combination includes a tray providing a flat upwardly facing surface and a plurality of raised edges forming compartments on the flat surface. The tray is made, in part, of a material adapted for phase changing thermal absorption such as, so called, blue-ice. A plurality of food containers, each have a flat bottom surface adapted for intimate contact with the flat surface of the tray. The containers also provide a peripheral bottom edge adapted for snap engagement with the raised edges of the tray for holding the containers on the tray.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method of use of such apparatus that provides advantages not taught by the prior art.
Another objective is to provide such an invention capable of storing a food product at low temperature.
A further objective is to provide such an invention capable of being reused.
A still further objective is to provide such an invention capable of compact storage.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.